


A Long Time Coming

by LittleBitOffanfic



Category: Hellboy - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 11:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18135011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleBitOffanfic/pseuds/LittleBitOffanfic
Summary: Fandom: HellboyCharacters: Abe, Liz, Hellboy(red)relationship: Abe/readerRequest: can you do an imagine abe getting hurt while protecting you and its how he’d confess? Also, if the reader could have the ability to hold their breath underwater for longer and swim with Abe, that would be so nice but its okay if its too much.





	A Long Time Coming

You worked with Hellboy and the others many times. You had a fairly good grasp of martial arts so were always a safe bet in a fight as well as being very intelligent.   
but the main reason you were here, was your aquatic abilities.   
You were able to hold your breath for longer than the average human and you were also able to sense things in the water. You had once been compared to sharks, who are able to feel the movement in the water in their spins. They called you a mermaid as a term of endearment after they heard you could sing really well.   
Even more so when some found out about your ability to slightly manipulate water. This meant you and Abe Spaian were almost always paired together. The thought was that if something went wrong with his gear or he needed fresh water in his gills, you can help him. That and everyone could resist pushing the fishman and mermaid together.   
But it was strange how well the two of you got on. You both were avid readers of classic literature and enjoyed classical music. This being the main focus on most of your talks in the early days, you quickly realised how much you enjoyed his company and it lead to you seeking each other out just to be together.   
There was one time you were about to confess to him. You had been speaking about work and how the two of you were really close when you started.   
\-----------------flashback -------------------------------  
“What about us?” Abe asked, looking a little perplexed.   
“Well, I’ve never connected with anyone like I have with you.” You explain, only holding his gaze for a moment before you had to break it.   
“Neither have I.” Abe nodded, but indicated for you to continue.   
“I was wondering if you wanted to maybe try dating?” You ask, avoiding his gaze like it would kill you. You could hear your heart beating in your ears as you stared at nothing.   
“I- er- I do not think that would be the greatest idea for us.” Abe stammered, taking a step back from you as your gaze flicked to him. He could see your heart break in your eyes and wanted nothing more than to embrace you, but he knew he couldn’t.   
“Why?” you asked, your voice breaking as you blinked to keep back the tears. You had never imagined Abe to say no to this. Hellboy had said Abe was deeply in love with you, that he spent every moment away from you dreaming of you.   
“In our line of work, I don’t think its… appropriate for any intimate relationships.” Abe clutched his hands behind his back, standing straight but only to hide his shaking hands.   
“Oh.” You mumbled, turning your back to him as tears ran down your cheeks and you fled from the room.   
Nothing really changed between you both. A few weeks were awkward, sure, but Abe tried everything he could to get you both back to how you were before. And that’s how things stayed. In a strange limbo between being more than friends but less than lovers.   
Hellboy question this, as did Liz, but no one pushed it.   
There were times they would walk past you asleep with your head on Abe’s shoulder while he read, or the two of you slow dancing to classic music. Situations that, at a first glance, anyone would assume you were together.   
But you accepted the contact with open arms, happy that nothing seemed to have destroyed the bond you both had.   
But tonight, you were nervous.   
You and Abe had to go into a small section of water that ran under the city. It wasn’t part of the sewers, but clean water that was to be purified later. Abe said he sensed there was something down there and you had been ordered to go with him for safety. Abe had fought tooth an nail to stop it, but your instructions were clear.   
You both stood by the covered entry way, a few of the soldiers were pulling open the cover.   
“So we go in, see whats happening, and get the hell out?” You look at Abe, who seemed to be as nervous as you were.   
Because you both knew you were going to find something unholy or unsavoury down there.   
“Yes, that is correct.” He nodded, blinking as he swallowed.   
And then, the hatch was pulled open.   
You and Abe walked to the side. One of the suits was speaking but you weren’t really listening. Something didn’t feel right.   
Abe was the first to dive into the water. Once you saw him resurface for you, you followed him with a deep breath.   
The water washed over your body, the coolness clearing your head for a moment as all sound and noise was drowned out by the gentle movement of the water.   
Abe swam to you to make sure you were okay to continue before you both dived into the depths. It was dark down here, and you relied on your ability to hear the moment of the water around. If something was swimming at you fast, you could pick up the harsh way the water was moving. But it did mean in terms of finding something, Abe was going to have the advantage. You swam close to him, feeling rather intimidated by the water rather than feeling like you were home.   
The water was about 30 meter deep from what you had been told, and the soldiers had thrown in buoys with lights on them which were able to light up the area around you both better. The area around you reminded you of the inside of a flooded cave. The walls and most likely ceiling were made from natural rock and totally enclosed the area. It was vast and open, with some areas having support beams.   
Something caught Abes attention as he held out a hand to you. You took his hand and he was able to sense your unease and fear. Unable to offer much support to you right now, he guided you into a darker part of the water, seeming to be a cavern.   
Inside, you saw something shining in the darkness. Something that was light blue and seemed to pulse like it was in time with a heart beat. Abe stopped but you continued to swim in.  
Hundreds of fist sized eggs all crowed into the cavern like frogspawn. It seemed ot be covered in some kind of blue goo which kept them from floating away into the open water. You took a closer look. They seemed to resemble frogspawn more than you had thought. You could see the faint outline of the developing creatures inside. you had seen other otherworldly creatures lay similar eggs, but never this many. They looked young, like they were in the first few stages of developing. But once they matured, once they surfaced? Oh god, there would be hundreds of them. What if they had some kind of ability to harm? Poison or sharp claws?   
a handful of creatures you could all deal with, but hundreds?   
the sudden size of the situation hit you.   
You started to panic, your heart hammering in your chest. You were able to hold your breath as well as partly filter the air from the water around you. You could dive for hours, so air had never been a problem, but now you craved it. Your body wanted to hyperventilate in panic as you tried to swim backwards away from the eggs.   
a hand grabbed yours and an arm wrapped security around your waist, and you were pulled against Abes chest. He managed to calm your movement when he nodded to the eggs, showing your movement was disturbing them. Once you calmed, he gently swam you both out of the cave.   
It wasn’t easy to speak with him under the water. Voices sounded muffled and far away, but you both understood each other rather well so you knew what he wanted to do.   
Go back and tell the others.   
he allowed you to swim on your own, but you kept close to him as you did so. If things had felt tense before, they were a thousand times worse now. Because now you knew there was something else down here for certain.   
You felt something moving quickly through the water. You grabbed Abes forearm to keep him from moving so you could concentrate on the water around you. He immediately stilled, his eyes darting around you both.   
you tried to concentrate, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t get a lock on whatever else was in the water with you.   
Because, because.   
There were 2. And one was now swimming at you from behind.   
Before you could react, Abe threw you to the side as the creature missed you and crashed into him, reminding you of a killer whale trying to confuse its victim by knocking it around.   
“ABE!” You screamed out into the water as one of them circled round the attack him again. But Abe was fast, he outmanoeuvred the creature. Whatever it was, it was smaller than you expected, about the size of a dolphin with a shark like body but a deep red skin colour. You didn’t want to risk finding out if it had teeth like a shark.   
You swam to Abe, grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of the entrance you had came in. but another attacked, knocking into you both and separating you.   
you spin in the water, the sensation causing you to loose your baring for a moment. You noticed the support beams to your right with a lit buoy. You had seen that the creatures were fast, but not too agile, taking time to turn in the water before coming back for more. If you could get to the beams, you could manoeuvre around them and try to lose or confuse the creatures. And a few of the beams were located very close to each other so you and Abe could probably hid in between them without having to worry about the creatures getting too close.   
Looking for Abe, you saw him float on his back as if stunned. You called out his name as your eyes tried to find the creatures, but you couldn’t see them right now. When he made out your voice, his whole body twitches and it brought him back into the moment as he was able to turn and face you. You pointed to the sections of the beams that you could squeeze through for safety.   
He followed your direction and nodded, swimming towards it. But something made you sick to your stomach. Red liquid trailed behind him from his torso as he swam. He was injured.   
you were able to swim to him, but then you felt the movement in the water. They were circling back, both of them.   
Grabbing his hand, you tugged him to swim faster. They were coming back.   
the two of you swam for your life, and just as you made it into the safety behind a beam, something clashed against the support but couldn’t get through the thin gap.   
Abe pressed himself against the beam and you swam in front of him, looking at the wound. But he pressed his hand over it, obviously not wanting you to see it. You looked up at him, and you saw the worry in his eyes. And fear.   
you took his hand in your own, squeezing it reassuringly.  
he understood, nodding a little.   
another slam caused Abe to move forward against you. you reached out, placing your free hand on his chest to steady him before looking to the right where the entrance was.   
And you felt a bolt of joy.   
It was so close. But there was another issue. You were getting very very close to the max time you could spend under water without taking a breath. You needed to move.   
Pulling Abe, the two of started to swim behind the beams. The creatures continued to slam into them, making them shake.   
just before you were able to start swimming up, they hit a beam which gave way. And because you were in front of Abe, it crashed into you. it was so sudden, and like you were hit by a truck. You were dazed and let out the last of the air in your lungs to cry out.   
Arms wrapped around your waist and you were pulled upwards. Abe then pushed you to the surface first.   
New arms hooked under your own and you were pulled from the water. Your eyes blinked rapidly as you tried to work out if they were friend or foe. Thankfully, you recognised the soldiers who had accompanied you both to the water. Gasping and spluttering, you struggled to even process what had just happened.   
they got Abe out of the water in the same fashion as yourself.   
“Careful. Hes hurt.” You call out, but your head was spinning and you couldn’t stand. Fading in and out of consciousness, you looked over to Abe. You managed to make eye contact for a moment before you passed out.   
\---------time skip --------------  
Liz came to see you when you woke, showing much more concern than you had expected. She had never been the touchy feely type of friend, but she wrapped her arms around your shoulders and sat on the bed with you, making sure you were okay. She told you that they had killed the creatures by poising the water and sent down a drone to check everything turned out okay. So your first fear was over.   
Within a day or so, you were allowed to leave the little room that you were being treated in. and you knew exactly where you were going to go. Liz said Abe wasn’t allowed to visit you after you passed out because they weren’t sure if your body would be open to catching something while you were recovering. Liz had also said he was pacing a lot and seemed to never want to return to his pool, instead waiting in the library and only going to the pool when needed. His wound had been easy to treat and he was patched up in a day while you took a few days to come round.   
You moved quickly along the hallways to the library.   
When you entered, you saw what Liz was meaning. He was, indeed, pacing in the centre with his hands held behind his back.   
his head snapped towards you as you entered the room.   
“[y/n]?” he breathed, as if he couldn’t actually believe you were standing there. You couldn’t help but smile.   
“Hi Abe.” You breathed, walking up to him. Abe still stood frozen to the spot until you were right in front of his. His hands dropped to his side and then he slowly reached out his right hand. The second his skin grazed your own, it seemed to break him.   
He rushed forward, his arms wrapping around your waist as he held you close. You returned his affection, cuddling into him. It must have been hell, just sitting here and waiting to see if you were okay or not.   
“I was so worried.” He breathed, his voice breaking.   
“im sorry?” You offered, pulling back with a laugh.   
“You have nothing to apologies about, my dear. I am simply relieved you are okay.” He kept his arms around you, not that you minded.   
“I feel the same way about you.” Your smile dropped when you thought of the fear you felt when Abe had been hurt. But you shook your head, it was all over with now. “So, how many books did you get though while I was asleep?”   
Even though you knew he probably hadnt read anything, you didn’t want him knowing what Liz had told you.   
“I didn’t read. But I did do a lot of thinking.” He admitted, looking down as his arms dropped and he stepped back from you.   
“Thinking?” you prompted, hoping he might tell you more.   
“yes. And I realised something.” Abe looked down, his features contorted in a mixture of pain and confusion.   
“What?” You breathed, stepping closer as you hoped to draw his gaze back to you.   
“I never told you how much I loved you.” Abe looked up, his eyes showing fear and, in total contrast, adoration.   
His words took the wind out of your sails as you stood, swaying on the spot. You stared at him in totally confusion. You couldn’t stand the way his eyes begged you to speak so you looked down and took a step back.   
“I don’t, I don’t see how that’s-“ You struggled to find your words as you tried to figure out why he had said that and yet turned you down before.   
“Appropriate? Its not.” He let out an awkward chuckle as he raised his hand to run over his smooth head before turning away from you and walking to the shelves of books. you recognised this as a sign he was either uncomfortable or… nervous?   
“When, when they told me I couldn’t see you, I started to worry I might never see you again. I had always made peace with my feelings for you from the start and when we grow closer, i was overjoyed. That day we spoke of taking our relationship further, I never wanted to put you in any undue danger and declined because I was content with admiring you from afar. My rejection was selfish and juvenile. I realise now how easy it would be to be parted from you. Now, I realised that all I desire is your affections and to return them in tenfold.” Abe turned to you, his eyes finding you nearly in tears. “I did not mean to upset-“   
He tried to finish, but you cant let him. You close the distance between you both and press a kiss to his lips. They were colder than you expected, but welcoming, nonetheless. Especially when he started to kiss you back after the shock had worn off.   
despite his cold lips, your own were on fire as you pulled away, breathless.   
“Does-“ Abe sounded just as out of breath and flustered as you felt. “-does this mean you’ll ignore my previous rejection?” He asks.   
“Yes.” You giggle, amused that he still was doubting that you would still want him. You saw a smile on his lips as he let out a sign of relief.   
“Finally.” A voice from behind you and you couldn’t help but jump and turn to see Hellboy standing in the doorway, a 6 pack of beer in his hands. “does this mean you’ll stop drinking all my beer?”   
“you drank beer?” you twisted to Abe, an amused smile on your lips.   
“well, err-“ he looked away obviously embarrassed by Reds revelation.   
“Don’t tell Liz. She’ll want to do one of those weird double dates.” He called out as he walked through the library and towards the door that lead to the hallway.   
“Ohh that’s such a good idea.” You smile, partly to annoy Red but it would be rather cute. The four of you often hung out together anyway, but a double date would be cute.   
Abe chuckled, obviously just as amused by the idea as you were. When Red had rolled his eyes but left, you turned your full attention back to Abe.   
“Although, we should probably do a first date before any double dates.” You smile.   
“my thoughts exactly.” Abe nods, holding out his hand to you. You take it and he guide you closer to the warm fire that the two of you had often sat in front and read when he was out his tank and you were cold. It had a couch and armchair with a few big cushions on the floor. “Although, I am not too familiar with what constitutes a date.”   
“Well, this could.” You wave at the set up.   
“Really?” Abe glances at you, and when you nod, he smiles. “then this is a date.”   
the two of you curled up on the couch with a book each. Abe loved the new intimacy which allowed him to hold you close and press a kiss to the top of your head. You fell asleep a little quicker than you would have liked, but it was a long day. But Abe drifted off at some point as well.   
Liz came in after Hellboy told her what he had walked in on, and when she saw the two of you asleep together, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. It was a long time coming.


End file.
